Chapter 131: Chapter 114: Open Your Mouth, Eat Candy
The first period hadn’t even started, but the weekly test papers were already being handed out.
Perhaps because it was the first round of review, Shen Yuan wasn’t too concerned about his score on the weekly test.
The reason was probably that this particular weekly test had a large number of questions covering topics from the first review round.
Compared to a regular test, it was much easier.
And since Shen Yuan had a good grasp of the fundamentals, he did well on this test.
Therefore, the specific score on this weekly test wasn’t a very meaningful indicator.
Once the first round of review began, the main purpose of the weekly tests was for students to gauge their mastery of the topics they had just reviewed.
After getting his science composite paper back, Shen Yuan snuck a peek at Li Zhi’s score.
’The gap is still pretty big,’ he thought.
Even though there were more fundamental questions and the test’s difficulty had dropped, Shen Yuan’s score was still around 260, while Li Zhi maintained her high score of 280.
"Alright, look at your papers. Let’s get through this quickly."
The physics teacher stood at the front, blitzing through the physics questions on the science composite paper with his usual lightning-fast efficiency.
Then, the class once again fell into the rhythm of review.
Shen Yuan’s thoughts followed the teacher’s pace; he could keep up with the current material perfectly.
After class, the physics teacher waved his hand, and another half-sheet test paper landed on their desks, making the spines of the third-year students bend a little closer to the wood.
The second period was Chinese class, and after that was the long break.
Although the Monday long break just meant standing around on the athletic field, the boys of Class 15 still preferred the long breaks on other days.
After all, that was when they could see the energetic older girls from Class 14.
’Who doesn’t like bouncy older girls?’
Oh, right. Shen Yuan didn’t.
The afterglow of the flag-raising ceremony had yet to fade.
Shen Yuan stood in the bustling crowd. When he looked up, a glint of gold light, reflected from the flagpole on the stage, landed right on the tip of Li Zhi’s ponytail, illuminating the perpetually rebellious wisp of hair behind her ear until it was nearly transparent.
Li Zhi held a manuscript in one hand, her other hand at her side. She delivered her speech with the same calm precision she would use to solve a math problem.
Class 15’s position was quite close to the stage, and Li Zhi’s gaze landed precisely on Shen Yuan’s subconsciously straightened shoulders.
The moment her eyes shifted, Shen Yuan knew she was looking at him.
He immediately broke into a wide grin for her.
Seeing Shen Yuan’s goofy expression, Li Zhi’s lips curled into a slight, suppressed smile.
’That idiot Shen Yuan looks kind of cute when he’s being dumb.’
After finishing her speech for the flag-raising ceremony, Li Zhi turned and left.
A short while later, after a teacher from the Political and Moral Education Office shouted, "All classes, return to your classrooms in an orderly fashion," the formations on the field began to move.
Shen Yuan was about to head back to the classroom when Sun Xiansheng called out to him.
"Lao Yuan, wanna go to the supermarket?"
Shen Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, let’s go. I’m getting a Coke."
"Hey, hey, hey! Wait up, I’m coming too."
Hearing this, Zhou Shaojie hurried to catch up with Shen Yuan.
The supermarket was always crowded after the long break.
Class 15 was dismissed early, so it wasn’t too packed when they arrived.
Shen Yuan grabbed a drink from the cooler. As he was about to check out, he spotted a bag of White Rabbit candy.
Seeing the white wrapper, he didn’t think twice before grabbing it.
’As for ice cream, I’d better not.’
’That stubborn tsundere has probably been fed too much ice cream lately. She’s been a little cold to me.’
Remembering what Li Zhi did last time just to get some ice cream, Shen Yuan made up his mind instantly.
’Nope, not buying it.’
"Holy shit, White Rabbit! Quick, give me one, give me one."
The moment Ah Jie saw the creamy candy in Shen Yuan’s hand, his eyes lit up. He immediately went into begging mode like a little kid, fawning as he held out his hand to Shen Yuan.
However, Shen Yuan scoffed at Ah Jie’s request, replying with a disdainful look, "Get lost! Know your place. You think you’re worthy of eating the same candy as me? Were your monthly exam scores as good as mine?"
These words immediately broke through Ah Jie’s defenses. "It was just one monthly exam! Do you have to be so smug? There are like, ten candies in there, and you won’t even share one? Do you even see me as a brother anymore?"
Faced with Ah Jie’s accusation, Shen Yuan felt no guilt whatsoever. Instead, he jabbed a Great Wilderness Heaven-Imprisoning Finger right in Ah Jie’s face and scolded:
"Where are your manners? If you want candy, you need to act like you want candy. You know what you’re supposed to call me, right?"
Startled by Shen Yuan’s shout, Ah Jie immediately caved. He bowed to Shen Yuan without hesitation and said:
"I’m sorry, Godfather. I was wrong. Please, I’m begging you, give me a piece of candy."
Satisfied with Ah Jie’s performance, Shen Yuan finally nodded. He unhurriedly unwrapped the candy, popped one in his own mouth, and then gave one White Rabbit candy each to Ah Jie and Sun Xiansheng.
Ah Jie took the candy, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Feeling the sticky sensation of the edible rice paper layer clinging to the inside of his cheek, Ah Jie let out a satisfied sound.
"Mmm—that’s the stuff. The real deal!"
Hearing this, Shen Yuan and Sun Xiansheng both took a small step away from him.
On the way back to the classroom, Shen Yuan glanced curiously at Sun Xiansheng. Suddenly remembering yesterday’s story about Ah Shuai and his "little sister," he asked casually, "By the way, what was the follow-up on that thing with Ah Shuai and his little sister?"
After hearing Ah Shuai’s absurd comments yesterday, Shen Yuan couldn’t bear to listen anymore and tuned out. But now, seeing Sun Xiansheng—the guy who had volunteered to be Ah Shuai’s strategist—his curiosity was piqued again.
Hearing Shen Yuan’s question, the corner of Sun Xiansheng’s mouth twitched. He cursed, "That fucking Ah Shuai is a real piece of work!"
Beside them, Ah Jie was still chewing his White Rabbit candy. Hearing Sun Xiansheng, he asked indistinctly, "Huh? Whash you shay?"
Sun Xiansheng opened his Coke, took a long GULP GULP GULP, and then said, "That dumbass said his neighbor’s little sister came to see him in a skirt yesterday, right? Well, when I got back to the dorm last night and asked for details, I found out she was wearing a JK uniform!"
"HISS—" Shen Yuan and Ah Jie both sucked in a sharp breath in unison.
"Oh, right," Sun Xiansheng added as if suddenly remembering something. "She was also wearing over-the-knee socks."
"HISS—" Shen Yuan and Ah Jie sucked in another sharp breath, their expressions turning strange.
"Oh, and there’s more. Ah Shuai said the girl even cosplays characters from the game they play together," Sun Xiansheng continued.
At this, Shen Yuan and Ah Jie stopped sucking in their breath.
’That bastard deserves to die.’
Ah Jie, in particular, was clenching his fists in jealousy.
"No, but why him?!"
Ah Jie couldn’t wrap his head around it. "I can let the thing with Lao Yuan and Young Master Li slide. After all, Lao Yuan is at least seventy percent as handsome as me, and even though he’s eating the grass near his own nest, I won’t condemn him for it. But Ah Shuai? What gives him the right?"
"Is it because he’s completely focused on his game?"
’I don’t think I’ll ever be happy again,’ Ah Jie thought.
But the next moment, Ah Jie was caught in a chokehold by Shen Yuan.
"You son of a bitch, were you just calling me ugly in a roundabout way?!"
"Dude, dude!! Can’t breathe."
Shen Yuan let go of Ah Jie and turned back to Sun Xiansheng. "So he just ignored all that? He didn’t once say his neighbor’s little sister looked good in her outfit?"
Sun Xiansheng shook his head.
Seeing this, Shen Yuan’s eyes lit up. "So there’s still hope for him?"
Sun Xiansheng shook his head again. "He said she looked a bit like Aya Farah."
"Arknights simp."
Shen Yuan said coldly.
Ah Jie snorted. "He deserves to be executed!"
"Whatever. I don’t know how to describe how I’m feeling right now, so let’s just Aruba him."
And so, when the three of them returned to the classroom, a completely clueless Yang Shuai was grabbed and given the Aruba treatment.
"Why! Why are you Aruba-ing me?!"
"You fucking deserve it!!"
After being Aruba’d, Yang Shuai whimpered and sulked his way back to his seat.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan sauntered back to his seat, swinging the bag of White Rabbit candy. At that moment, Li Zhi was looking down, working through formulas on her scratch paper.
Seeing Shen Yuan return, Li Zhi glanced at him for a second before her gaze fell back to her paper.
Shen Yuan deliberately rustled the candy wrapper, trying to interrupt the scratching of her pen. When he saw that her eyelashes didn’t even flicker, he went ahead and unwrapped a milky-white candy, pinching it between his fingers.
"Open up." Shen Yuan leaned across the "thirty-eighth parallel" on their desks, his fingertips almost brushing against the seam of Li Zhi’s tightly pressed lips.
Looking at the candy before her, Li Zhi finally lifted her eyelids. The small, light-brown mole at the corner of her eye rose slightly as she furrowed her brow.
"Are you a child?"
But before she could finish her sentence, Shen Yuan had already taken the opportunity to press the candy against her teeth. The moment the rice paper touched the cupid’s bow of her lip, Li Zhi bit down on the candy by reflex.
As the milky fragrance spread across her tongue, Li Zhi finally realized what she had just done.
Her cool, composed expression, which had been focused on her work, suddenly froze. The small, light-brown mole at the corner of her eye trembled in shock.
The sweetness spreading on her tongue made Li Zhi’s pupils tremble, and a faint blush quickly spread to the tips of her ears, like white jade tinged with rouge.
SWISH!
The beautiful girl snatched up her scratch paper to cover the lower half of her face, trying to hide her flustered state, but a crimson blush had already crept down her neck to the collar of her school uniform.
Shen Yuan propped his elbow on the desk, holding his posture as he leaned across the line, a sly arc raising his eyebrow.
Looking into Li Zhi’s indignant eyes, Shen Yuan deliberately crinkled the candy wrapper and said in a low voice, "You didn’t shy away yesterday when I was feeding you shrimp."
Before the words even faded, Shen Yuan had quickly retreated back to his side of the thirty-eighth parallel. He propped his chin on one hand, admiring the beautiful girl’s struggle to appear calm, his eyes gleaming with the triumphant light of a successful prank.
However, Shen Yuan’s smugness didn’t last long. He saw the beautiful girl snatch up her English book and bring it down on him.
"You’re asking for a beating!!"
"Hey, hey, hey! I give you something to eat and you hit me? Have you no conscience?!" Shen Yuan ducked, covering his head with his arms.
"None! My conscience was eaten by a dog named Shen Yuan a long time ago!"
Just then, He Zhiyu, who had only just heard the commotion, quickly turned around.
Watching the one-sided beating of the childhood friend behind her, a subtle smile appeared on He Zhiyu’s face.
[’My conscience was eaten by a dog named Shen Yuan a long time ago.’]
’Tsk, Zhizhi, isn’t that a pun?’
If Li Zhi knew what He Zhiyu was thinking, she would definitely nod and say yes.
First, she, Li Zhi, had no conscience.
Second, Shen Yuan was a dog.
After beating up Shen Yuan, Li Zhi huffily slammed her book down on the desk.
With a "Hmph," she proceeded to ignore him.
But from Shen Yuan’s angle, he could still see the slight hollows that formed in Li Zhi’s cheeks as she sucked on the candy.
Watching the movement of her skin, Shen Yuan could even imagine what Li Zhi was doing to that piece of candy at this very moment.
’Chewing it fiercely, of course.’
